Etchells World Championship 2014 - Hardesty takes third title

by New York Yacht Club on 29 Jun 2014

Bill Hardesty (far right) and his team of (left to right) Stephanie Roble, Marcus Eagan and Taylor Canfield shortly after winning the 2014 Etchells World Championship off Newport, R.I. For Hardesty this is his third world title in the Etchells Class. He also won the championship in 2008 and 2011. Sharon Green/New York Yacht Club

2014 Etchells World Championship - Consistency is king and Bill Hardesty and crew of Stephanie Roble, Taylor Canfield and Marcus Eagan have earned the 2014 Etchells World Championship by sticking to a steady plan for success.

The plan was formulated six months ago, when Hardesty put together his young team consisting of Match Race World Champion Taylor Canfield and top women’s match racer Stephanie Roble—25-year-olds eager to dedicate themselves to a worthy goal. Add in top trimmer Marcus Eagan and the team was complete.

After a tough series in Miami last winter, Hardesty made the decision to train in his home waters of San Diego where he had top talent and similar conditions to the worlds venue in Newport. 'Tom Carruthers, Vince Brun and Bruce Nelson helped us up our game through sail testing and boat tuning,' Hardesty said. But they didn't focus solely on boat speed. 'We worked on evaluating risk management to make good decisions, define it, buy into it and follow through; that all came together at this regatta and helped with our consistency.'

Hardesty further commented that having three elite match racers on board 'gave us an advantage at the start through our time and distance timing and laylines, which made starting easier and more comfortable. We only had one bad start, that was the race we finished 20th.'

Commenting on his third Etchells World title, Hardesty said: 'This was one of the toughest to win; the level of sailing was at its highest. But it's very exciting. I love the class, I love the boat.'

Winning the last race was Peter Duncan, who had local ties. 'We didn’t sail a particularly great series,' said Duncan. 'Our expectations were certainly higher, so this was great to end on a high note, which is better than the alternative.' Duncan’s crew included former world champion Jud Smith and Thomas Blackwell.